Safety body slams PPE write off as 'shameful'

Criticism from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) follows a BBC investigation which revealed the shocking numbers of aprons, masks and goggles which were due to be disposed of, despite them being fully compliant. In response, the biggest supplier of the PPE has claimed the products may have been spoiled because they were left in shipping containers after delivery.

Fresh from attending the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) International Labour Conference, where a new global standard governing biological hazards at work came under discussion, UK-based IOSH is critical of the fact that 1.57 billion items of PPE provided by NHS supplier Full Support Healthcare will never be used, despite being manufactured to the proper standard.

This also comes after delegations from 194 Member States¹ of the World Health Organization (WHO) attended the 77th World Health Assembly to discuss current and future priorities for public health issues. As part of these discussions, the international negotiation body continues to draft and negotiate a global pandemic agreement which aims to strengthen pandemic prevention preparedness and response (with these negotiations continuing till 2025 or sooner).

With this in mind, aside from the UK’s large-scale waste of public funds on PPE that has been burned, destroyed, thrown away or recycled, including the cost of that disposal, IOSH is concerned by the preparedness and response approach adopted. It is also troubled by the adopted procurement strategy, which appeared to have prevented PPE from being stored appropriately and ultimately not used.

Threat continues

“Biological hazards of all kinds, not just Covid-19, pose significant risks for many people working in different environments,” says Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at IOSH. 

“Exposure to contagious and non-contagious biological risks in 2021 is estimated to have accounted for at least 550,000 fatalities – that’s nearly 10 per cent of all estimated work-related fatalities²", she added.

“The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the global impact that biological hazards can have on the workforce, and the wider impacts this brings to delivering key frontline services, supply chain resilience and so on. It also evidenced the need for a more proactive approach to the prevention, preparedness and response to existing, as well as new and emerging biological hazards.

“We know PPE is the last line of defence within a comprehensive hierarchy of controls framework so to not use – and subsequently waste - valuable items of PPE, which were critical to support the implementation of control measures and strategies focused on preventing and reducing illness, both in and outside workplaces around the world, really is shameful and truly concerning,”

References

1. With Member States agreeing to amendments of the International Health Regulation (2005), the WHO explained to IOSH that these amendments to the Regulations will strengthen global preparedness, surveillance and responses to public health emergencies. This includes the introduction of a pandemic emergency plan and a commitment to solidarity and equity on strengthening access to medical products and financing. Given this commitment happened at the 27 May – 1 June 2024 meetings, Member States now have the right under the Regulations to evaluate each and every amendment before making a sovereign choice of whether to accept all the amendments or opt out.
2. Jukka Takala et al., Global Estimates on Biological Risks, commissioned by the ILO.